Phoenix Financial Ltd. Purchases New Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Key Points

• Phoenix Financial Ltd. purchased 1,048 shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. for approximately $272,000 in the 1st quarter, highlighting growing interest from institutional investors.
• Analyst ratings indicate a consensus of "Moderate Buy" with multiple firms raising price targets, including Stephens and Barclays, reflecting positive growth expectations for the company.
• Rockwell Automation announced a quarterly dividend of $1.31 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.46%, demonstrating the company's commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Phoenix Financial Ltd. acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,048 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,115,280 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,033,476,000 after purchasing an additional 432,934 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,734,430 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $779,426,000 after purchasing an additional 51,228 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,417,323 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $405,057,000 after purchasing an additional 53,287 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,391,331 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $397,628,000 after purchasing an additional 171,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 102.3% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,287,731 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $368,021,000 after purchasing an additional 651,116 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 363 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.32, for a total value of $118,454.16. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,325,838.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 269 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.26, for a total value of $95,564.94. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at $573,034.38. The trade was a 14.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,757 shares of company stock worth $3,138,220 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROK has been the subject of a number of research reports. CICC Research initiated coverage on Rockwell Automation in a report on Monday, July 7th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $381.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $304.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $360.00 to $410.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $341.11.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Rockwell Automation stock traded up $0.62 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $354.52. The company had a trading volume of 140,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 917,346. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $215.00 and a fifty-two week high of $360.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $39.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $331.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $290.96.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 30.16%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.50 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Rockwell Automation's payout ratio is 65.99%.

About Rockwell Automation

Rockwell Automation, Inc provides industrial automation and digital transformation solutions in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company operates through three segments, Intelligent Devices, Software & Control, and Lifecycle Services. Its solutions include hardware and software products and services.